Michael J. Schlinkert

Sidley represented The Brink’s Company (NYSE: BCO) in its acquisition of NCR Atleos Corporation (NYSE: NATL) in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately US$6.6 billion. The deal combines two leading financial technology infrastructure providers, bringing together Brink’s global cash management expertise and route-based infrastructure with NCR Atleos’ end-to-end ATM management and services expertise, ATM network, and fast-growing ATM-as-a-Service outsourcing solutions. Sidley served as both transaction and financing counsel to Brink’s in the transaction. The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary closing conditions. The Sidley team was led by David Grubman, Adam Cromie, George Hunter, and Dustin Page (M&A), and included Lisa Holzman, Evan Kowalski, Jordan Lemoine, and David Hoff (M&A); Angela Fontana, Tracey Nicastro, Caroline Roberts, and Alexander Waddell (Global Finance); Sonia Gupta Barros, Alexander Csordas, Samir Gandhi, and Kayla West (Capital Markets); Suresh Advani, Christian Brause, Eric Grosshandler, and Patrick Gray (Tax); Gregory Marrs, Elizabeth Burns, and Steven Szymanski (Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation); Corey Roush, Murray Reeve, and Anna Kubinska (Antitrust and Competition); Sven De Knop, Alessandra Moroni, James Daher, and Laura Verbeken (Global Arbitration, Trade and Advocacy); Stanley Boris and Matthew Katz (Banking, Payments and Fintech); Colleen Brown and Stephanie Lim (Privacy and Cybersecurity); Heather Palmer (Environmental, Health, and Safety); Natalie Piazza, Vishnu Tirumala, Melissa Gerdts, Amber Otto, Chetan Reddy, and Shannon McDonald (Commercial Litigation and Disputes); and Derek Zaba (Shareholder Activism & Corporate Defense).

Feb 26

1 min

Sidley represented MIP VI Holdings II, LLC, an affiliate of Macquarie Asset Management (“MAM”), the world’s largest infrastructure manager, in its acquisition of Coastal Waste & Recycling, Inc. (“Coastal”), one of the largest independent vertically integrated solid waste and recycling businesses in the Southeast. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, Coastal provides residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal services to customers in 19 locations in Florida and Georgia. MAM-managed funds have invested over $5.0 billion in the waste industry in the Americas since 2007 including realized investments in Waste Industries, WCA, and GFL Environmental, and current investments in WIN Waste Innovations, Solví, LRS, Greenwaste, DTG Recycling, and now Coastal. The Sidley team was led by Tommer Yoked, Chris Folmsbee, and Ashley Moulder, with special assistance from Kevin E. Hess, Pardis Baha, John A. Zappia, and Amanda Ibrahim (all Energy & Infrastructure). Additional assistance was provided by Daniel F. Allison, Joe Zenruffinen, Michael J. Schlinkert, and Nick J. Kalina (Acquisition Financing); Heather M. Palmer and Greta T. Carlson (Environmental); Beatriz Azcuy, Katherine Medianik, and Connor T. Evans (Real Estate); Teresa L. Reuter and Julia M. Sprangers (Labor, Employment and Immigration); Eric M. Winwood, Marian Fielding, and Akshay Soman (Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation); Zackary Pullin and Aaron S. Mitchell (Tax); Lawrence D. Silverman (Antitrust and Consumer Protection); Margaret H. Allen and Kyle J. Fiet (Commercial Litigation and Disputes); Sasha Hondagneu-Messner and Ash Nagdev (Privacy and Cybersecurity); Leslie A. Shubert and Allison L. Dapper (White Collar: Government Litigation and Investigations); Howard J. Stanislawski (Global Arbitration, Trade and Advocacy); Scott J.F. Goldstein (Insurance); and Paul Kariyawasam (Technology and Life Sciences Transactions).~~Sidley represented MIP VI Holdings II, LLC, an affiliate of Macquarie Asset Management (“MAM”), the world’s largest infrastructure manager, in its acquisition of Coastal Waste & Recycling, Inc. (“Coastal”), one of the largest independent vertically integrated solid waste and recycling businesses in the Southeast. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, Coastal provides residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal services to customers in 19 locations in Florida and Georgia. MAM-managed funds have invested over $5.0 billion in the waste industry in the Americas since 2007 including realized investments in Waste Industries, WCA, and GFL Environmental, and current investments in WIN Waste Innovations, Solví, LRS, Greenwaste, DTG Recycling, and now Coastal. The Sidley team was led by Tommer Yoked, Chris Folmsbee, and Ashley Moulder, with special assistance from Kevin E. Hess, Pardis Baha, John A. Zappia, and Amanda Ibrahim (all Energy & Infrastructure). Additional assistance was provided by Daniel F. Allison, Joe Zenruffinen, Michael J. Schlinkert, and Nick J. Kalina (Acquisition Financing); Heather M. Palmer and Greta T. Carlson (Environmental); Beatriz Azcuy, Katherine Medianik, and Connor T. Evans (Real Estate); Teresa L. Reuter and Julia M. Sprangers (Labor, Employment and Immigration); Eric M. Winwood, Marian Fielding, and Akshay Soman (Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation); Zackary Pullin and Aaron S. Mitchell (Tax); Lawrence D. Silverman (Antitrust and Consumer Protection); Margaret H. Allen and Kyle J. Fiet (Commercial Litigation and Disputes); Sasha Hondagneu-Messner and Ash Nagdev (Privacy and Cybersecurity); Leslie A. Shubert and Allison L. Dapper (White Collar: Government Litigation and Investigations); Howard J. Stanislawski (Global Arbitration, Trade and Advocacy); Scott J.F. Goldstein (Insurance); and Paul Kariyawasam (Technology and Life Sciences Transactions).

Jun 13

2 min

Kirkland & Ellis counseled Allied Industrial Partners LLC (AIP), an industrial-focused middle market private equity firm, on its decision to acquire CAT Entertainment Services, a market leading provider of specialty mobile power generation, power distribution, and temperature control services.  The acquisition is a carve-out from Ring Power Corp., one of the largest U.S. Caterpillar dealers, which will retain a minority stake in the business. The company, which will be rebranded as CES Power, will be led by co-founder Greg Landa as CEO, supported by the existing leadership team. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Read Allied Industrial Partners press release The Kirkland team was led by corporate partner Thomas Laughlin and associates Tess Dennis and Parker Collins; investment funds partner Matt Nadworny and associates Linda Dahl and Katherine Chernova; debt finance partners Will Bos and Jordan Roberts and associates Michael Schlinkert and Christina Godard; and tax partner Steve Butler and associates Ryan Phelps and Courtney Loyack.

Jul 22

1 min

Contract compression services provider Kodiak Gas Services Inc. on Thursday unveiled plans to acquire Distributed Power Solutions LLC in an equity and cash deal valued at $675 million that was built by three law firms. The purchase price includes $575 million in cash and the issuance of roughly 2.4 million shares, representing around $100 million, of Kodiak common stock, according to a Thursday statement. Sidley Austin LLP advised Kodiak, Jones Walker LLP advised Distributed Power Solutions, and Winston & Strawn LLP represented the selling parties. Distributed Power Solutions provides turnkey, scalable, and reliable distributed power solutions to a variety of customers, the statement said. Its fleet includes around 384 megawatts of distributed power generation assets driven by a combination of Caterpillar reciprocating engines and turbines. "Distributed power is a natural extension of our large horsepower operations skillset and meaningfully enhances our ability to deliver critical energy infrastructure solutions to our oil and gas customers, while opening new avenues of growth in the fast-growing digital infrastructure end market," said Kodiak President and CEO Mickey McKee in the statement. "Distributed power demand is growing rapidly," McKee said. "We believe that the speed-to-deployment and competitive pricing relative to an increasingly constrained power grid make distributed power an attractive option for primary, long-term power." The acquisition of Distributed Power Solutions will expand Kodiak's customer base into high-growth digital infrastructure companies and strengthen its relationships with certain upstream and midstream energy customers, the statement said. Kodiak's team of Caterpillar-certified technicians, embedded maintenance routines, and fleet monitoring and management technologies will also increase the reliability and real-time monitoring of Distributed Power Solutions' fleet, according to the statement. "This transaction represents an important milestone for DPS. We have built a scaled, high-quality fleet and a strong operating platform, and Kodiak is a natural platform to launch our next phase of growth," said Distributed Power Solutions President Scott Milligan in the statement. "Our shared focus on safety, reliability, and execution positions the combined organization well to serve customers and create long-term value." When the deal closes, which is expected in early April 2026, Distributed Power Solutions' management team will join Kodiak. The Sidley teams advising Kodiak included energy and infrastructure partners David Buck and Atman Shukla. The Jones Walker team advising Distributed Power Solutions included partner Britton Seal. The Winston & Strawn team advising the selling parties included partner Matthew Stockstill.

Feb 5

2 min

Retail landlord Simon Properties and luxury retailer Saks Global on Monday wrangled over the wording of a 2024 investment agreement as they asked a Texas bankruptcy judge to determine the fate of the leases of two Saks locations. Counsel for the parties made their closing arguments to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Alfredo R. Perez after three days of hearings on Simon's request for a ruling that it can terminate the leases without the notice periods in the leases themselves. The parties are disputing whether a letter agreement Simon and Saks entered into when Simon invested $100 million in Saks in 2024 allows Simon to terminate the leases of a Saks location in Woodbury, New York, and a Neiman Marcus store in Palo Alto, California, effective Jan. 8, six days before Saks declared bankruptcy and a stay on contract terminations went into effect. Both parties acknowledged that the agreement granted Simon the right to terminate the Palo Alto lease and one other lease for "failure to perform" on either lease and that Saks had overdue lease payments, but they disagreed on whether the letter overrode notice of default and cure period provisions in the leases that would have given Saks 30 days from its Jan. 8 notice to make up the payments. At Monday's hearing, Simon counsel Robert Velevis argued the default provisions in the leases were not relevant, saying the agreement specifically allowed termination for "failure to perform" and not "default." "The letter agreement does not give a cure period," it said. Saks counsel Allyson Smith argued the letter agreement doesn't define "failure to perform" but the leases do, and that definition includes cure rights. The sole purpose of the clause in the letter agreement was to give Simon the right to terminate the leases for a default on a different lease, she argued. She also argued calling a default on the leases was a break with the parties' standard relationship. She said Simon had always accepted late payments, for example when Saks disputed a particular charge and delayed payment until the dispute was reconciled. "There has always been an amount technically outstanding," she said. Velevis argued this only meant that Simon had the right to terminate the leases anytime after the agreement was signed, and only invoked it now for "its own reasons." Smith claimed Simon learned of Saks' plans to file and "manufactured a default" in order to seize the leases and prevent Saks from selling them in its Chapter 11. Judge Perez reserved decisions on the issue. Simon Property Group is represented by Duston K. McFaul, Robert S. Velevis, Jeri Leigh Miller and Maegan Quejada of Sidley Austin LLP. Saks is represented by Kelli S. Norfleet, Kenric D. Kattner, Arsalan Muhammad, Kourtney P. Lyda and David Trausch of Haynes Boone and Debra M. Sinclair, Robin Spigel, Allyson B. Smith, Betsy L. Feldman, Jessica D. Graber, Jennifer J. Hardy, Ryan B. Bennett, Stuart R. Lombardi and Nathaniel G. Ward of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. The case is In re: Saks Global Enterprises LLC et al., case number 4:26-bk-90103, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Mar 2

2 min